Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts

Re: Assault with intent to maim

If you are asking, it may mean she does not yet have an attorney. Usually the second appearance is a pre-trial conference. It affirms any exchange of evidence and a list of witnesses that the Commonwealth has, as well as a pre-trial conference form that was discussed between the commonwealth your mother or attorney. If any legal issues remain that require the attention of the court, it is each side's opportunity to raise them. There may be other techical matters that require the attention of one side or the other.

If your mother does not have an attorney, and she is indigent, the court will appoint an attorney for a nominal fee. If she is found not indigent, then she will have to retain her own attorney. If your mother is interested in a free consultation, she can contact me at 978.749.3606. and we can schedule one before she returns to court.

Re: Assault with intent to maim

It is not up to your Mother's boyfriend to drop the charges in which he is a victim. Once the charges are taken out--it is up to the District Attorney's office as to whether they want to proceed on those charges. If they can prove the case without his testimony they might do that. If he does not have a privilege to not testify they can force him to testify. It all depends upon the facts of the case, your mother's prior record for convictions (if any,which DA is handling the case and what Judge is hearing it (and of course those are only some of the factors--the list goes on...) Due to there being so many factors I am unable to give you a true assessment as to what will happen to your mother. Your mom needs a good attorney who knows the system and the players in the Court where the case is being heard. Was she given a court appointed attorney? If so, you should speak with that person. If she is looking to hire an attorney, I would be more than willing to sit down with her and discuss her case. Good luck with everything and I hope this answer helps. Martha Kovner

Re: Assault with intent to maim

Your mother has a complex legal problem which she will clearly need the assistance of an attorney to resolve. There are several potential avenues that your mother could pursue in order to lessen her problems. First, through her attorney, she could find out whether her boyfriend would be willing to invoke his 5th Amendment privilege against testifying, advise the court that the parties have reached an "accord and satisfaction" and request that the charges involving the boyfriend be dismissed. In many cases, this is an effective technique to obtain the dismissal of misdemeanor domestic violence charges. My goals in a case such as your mother has are to protect the rights of each individual client, to have the charges dismissed or to obtain an acquital. Where this is not possible, I work with my clients obtain a disposition involving pretrial diversion, probation or an alternative sentence. 617.566.3670